The Major Gods

The Major Gods

Each of the three culture types have three deity subtypes, represented by a major deity (Zeus, Ra, etc.). Beneath the major deities in each civilization are nine minor deities, although each major deity only has six possible and only three of which can be chosen in a single game. This means that in any game you will worship four gods.

Each god has his or her own specific abilities, powers and units to grant you. When you want to advance an age, you must choose a new god to worship. There is no perfect answer to which deity to go for as they are all pretty good. Try to find one that matches your own personal style. I give a quick run-down of the deities here, and more in-depth in the next sections.

Gods Advancement Quick Overview

'Zeus'

'Poseidon'

'Hades'

Athena or Hermes

Ares or Hermes

Athena or Ares

Apollo or Dionysus

Aphrodite or Dionysus

Apollo or Aphrodite

Hera or Hephaestus

Artemis or Hephaestus

Artemis or Hephaestus

'Ra'

'Isis'

'Set'

Ptah or Bast

Anubis or Bast

Ptah or Anubis

Sekhmet or Hathor

Nephthys or Hathor

Sekhmet or Nephthys

Osiris or Horus

Osiris or Thoth

Thoth or Horus

'Odin'

'Thor'

'Loki'

Heimdall or Freyja

Forseti or Freyja

Heimdall or Forseti

Njord or Skadi

Bragi or Skadi

Njord or Bragi

Tyr or Baldr

Tyr or Baldr

Tyr or Hel

Zeus (Greek)

A Greek culture starting with Zeus gets:

God Power:</li> Bolt: kill any one unit on the map. Bolt is best used against the first Myth unit that attacks your city (especially if it has a lot of hit points and armor, like a Hydra). It can also take out the Nidhogg (always expect it when playing against Loki).

God Power:</li> Lure. Creates a stone that pulls all nearby animals to it. You should scout the area before using it or you may just attract a lot of lions.

Technology:</li> Lord of the Horses. Cavalry get extended Line of Sight.

Cavalry are 10% cheaper to build.

Stables are 50% cheaper to build

Buying/Selling in a market is 10% more efficient

Militia: When your buildings are destroyed, under Poseidon, new troops will be created called Militia. The better the building destroyed, the more troops will appear.

When you build a dock, Poseidon grants you a free water unit, the Hippocampus. I would call it a "Mer-horse;" it makes a great aquatic explorer.

Classical Age: Ares or Hermes

Heroic Age: Aphrodite or Dionysus

Mythic Age: Artemis or Hephaestus

Hades (Greek)

A Greek culture starting with Hades gets:

God Power:</li> Sentinels, four giant statues at a target town center. These work like watch towers and shoot at any enemy that comes by. Place them whenyou REALLY need them. They can be used to protect your town from an atack or maybe defend a forward base or protect an ally.

Technology:</li> Vaults of Erebus. Provides 3 free gold every 4 seconds. Not a lot, by any standard, but if you research this early in the game, it will add up.

Shades: When non-Myth, non-Hero soldiers die, his shade may appear at the your temple. There is roughly a 1 in 5 chance of this occurring. Although Shades start out weak, they grow in power as you advance through the ages.

All buildings have 25% more hit points. Towers (including your sentinels) get a 20% better attack.

Archer units' attack gets a 10% bonus.

Classical Age: Athena or Ares

Heroic Age: Apollo or Aphrodite

Mythic Age: Artemis or Hephaestus

Ra (Egyptian)

An Egyptian culture starting with Ra gets:

God Power:</li> Rain. Your villagers work your farms 4X faster. This also gives your enemy's farms a 3X faster bonus as well. As this only helps farmers, you should probably wait until the end of the Classical, or the Heroic Age when you have a large number of farms to rain upon.

Technology:</li> Skin of the Rhino. Upgrades your villagers armor by 30% and their attack by 20%.

When your Pharaoh empowers a building, it yields 25% more resources rather than the standard 20%. Priests can also empower buildings.

Chariot Archers and Camels get 25% more HP and move faster by 10%

Monuments (the Egyptian method for gaining favor) cost 75% of normal and have 20% more hit points.

Classical Age: Ptah or Bast

Heroic Age: Sekhmet or Hathor

Mythic Age: Osiris or Horus

Isis (Egyptian)

An Egyptian culture following the ways of Isis gets:

God Power:</li> Prosperity. Your laborers mine gold twice as fast. Best done at the beginning of the Classical Age when you get a lot of workers on gold. In fact, for the duration of the Power, you should put ALL Your available workers on gold (unless you've got a compelling need for Food/Wood).

Technology:</li> Flood of the Nile. Provides 3 free food every 4 seconds. Not great, but if researched early enough, could be very beneficial. This works out to 45 free Food every minute of game play. Assume you're playing a moderate 15 minute game, you'll get 675 free Food.

All technologies cost 10% less to research

Enemy god powers cannot be targeted near your Monuments. So, instead of grouping monuments together in a highly defensible area, you should put them spread out around your town to protect against enemy Powers.

Town Centers support an extra three population.

Priests build obelisks 60% faster and cheaper.

Classical Age: Anubis or Bast

Heroic Age: Nephthys or Hathor

Mythic Age: Osiris or Thoth

Set (Egyptian)

An Egyptian culture under Set gets:

God Power:</li> Vision. Reveals any part of the map. Try to guess where the enemy town center would be, and use this as soon as the game starts. Usually if you're in one corner of the map, the enemy will be in the other corner of the map.

Priests convert wild animals. These animals are then under your control, and can be used for food (as usual) or even to attack your enemies.

Your Pharaoh can also spend Favor to summon new animals. As you advance, the Pharaoh can summon better and more powerful animals. These can also be used as food, or for defense. They are the only units in the game that cost only Favor.

Slingers and Chariot Archers train 25% faster.

Slingers have more hit points and better hack armor

Migdol Stronghold costs 25% less

Odin (Norse)

A Norse culture under Odin gets:

God Power:</li> Great Hunt. Increases the number of animals in the target area. Best used at the very start of the game, on the largest herd you can find(You may want to send your sheep or pigs to the herd to multiply them as well).

Technology:</li> Lone Wanderer. Ulfsarks run faster.

When the player advances the Classical Age, Odin provides 2 free Ravens for use in exploration. They also regenerate if killed.

Villagers hunt animals faster.

Regeneration: Normal units not engaged in any strenuous activity (such as fighting or running) will regenerate hitpoints.

Units built at your Hill Forts have 20% more hit points.

Classical Age: Heimdall or Freyja

Heroic Age: Njord or Skadi

Mythic Age: Tyr or Baldr

Thor (Norse)

Norse who worship Thor get the following:

God Power:</li> Dwarven Mine, a special gold mine that you can create anywhere you want.The longer you wait, the more gold the mine will have when summoned.

Begin the game with 2 dwarves rather than the normal 2 villagers. (Dwarves are better miners; villagers ? or gatherers ? are usually better at everything else)

Dwarves cost 10 less gold, and train slightly faster

Dwarves reach parity with Gatherers in regards to how quickly they gather wood and food. (Normally dwarves are under a 20% penalty when they farm, or chop trees)

Thor replaces the Armory with the Dwarven Foundry. The Foundry can be built from the start and contains all the possible tech an armory can hold (regardless of Age requirements). Thor also gets several new special techs in the Foundry. Technologies researched in the Foundry cost less gold.

Classical Age: Forseti or Freyja

Heroic Age: Bragi or Skadi

Mythical Age: Tyr or Baldr

Loki (Norse)

Norse who revere the patron saint of Loki get:

God Power:</li> Spy. You see what one enemy unit sees, until it dies. So, try not to kill it yourself. Usually you'll want to hit the first enemy scout unit you see with this power, however, an interesting alternative would be to target it on an enemy villager. They would then give you line of sight right into the heart of the enemy city.

Technology:</li> Eyes in the Forest. Infantry receive an extended Line of Sight.

Hersir will summon their own Myth units in combat and move slightly faster.

Myth units require less Favor to build.

Longhouse units train quicker.

Ox Carts are 50% faster and cheaper, but get fewer hit points as well.